First Trust Advisors LP Acquires 202,232 Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY - Free Report) by 18.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,312,733 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 202,232 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.06% of Bristol-Myers Squibb worth $74,248,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Tacita Capital Inc bought a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, M Holdings Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors own 76.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BMY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $55.00 price objective (down from $67.00) on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup increased their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $58.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Samit Hirawat bought 1,823 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $54.84 per share, with a total value of $99,973.32. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 63,932 shares in the company, valued at $3,506,030.88. This represents a 2.94 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

NYSE BMY traded down $0.83 during trading on Friday, reaching $47.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,292,011 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,089,620. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $56.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.50. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12 month low of $39.35 and a 12 month high of $63.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.25. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a positive return on equity of 13.93% and a negative net margin of 18.53%. The firm had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($4.40) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.18%. Bristol-Myers Squibb's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -56.11%.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Profile

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company discovers, develops, licenses, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers products for hematology, oncology, cardiovascular, immunology, fibrotic, and neuroscience diseases. The company's products include Eliquis for reduction in risk of stroke/systemic embolism in non-valvular atrial fibrillation, and for the treatment of DVT/PE; Opdivo for various anti-cancer indications, including bladder, blood, CRC, head and neck, RCC, HCC, lung, melanoma, MPM, stomach and esophageal cancer; Pomalyst/Imnovid for multiple myeloma; Orencia for active rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis; and Sprycel for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia.